The present invention relates to a bowl-shaped steering wheel for motor vehicles, in which the hub of the steering wheel is recessed from the rim of the wheel and a deformable member is provided between the hub and rim of the steering wheel.
Bowl shaped steering wheels are known and have been described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 2,946,869. They afford a certain degree of safety against injury in case of an accident because the hub is recessed from the rim of the steering wheel and when the driver is thrown forwardly in case of an accident, the upper part of his body is intercepted by the rim of the steering wheel.
In an attempt to distribute the impact of the body over an area which is as large as possible, a steering wheel described in printed German Application 18 15 130 has been provided with an impact-receiving member which is cushioned and has a large surface area arranged within the rim of the steering wheel.
It is also known to provide cup- or bowl-shaped deformable members, which are disposed between the rim and hub of the steering wheel and which in case of accidents involving an impact perform work of deformation to take up the kinetic energy of the driver thrown against the steering wheel and thus reduce the risk of injury (Opened German Specification No. 18 17 337; German Utility Model 18 88 896).
Printed German Application 19 12 528 discloses a steering wheel comprising a member which provides an impact-receiving surface and which in case of accidents cooperates with a deformable tubular member, which is connected to the hub of the steering wheel. The deformable member consists of a sheet metal element, which has been roll-formed to a tubular shape, welded, and provided with diamond-shaped apertures to form a grid comprising a plurality of pairs of strips which extend from a common point.
These known deformable members have the disadvantage that their flexural rigidity is comparatively high so that they cannot perform the desired function or cannot perform it satisfactorily because they take up the work of deformation only under a comparatively high load so that they do not generally afford protection in case of an impact of the head on the steering wheel.